Skeg for barges and like vessels



NOV. 6, 1934 R TAYLOR 1,980,114

SKEG FOR BARGES AND LIKE VESSELS Filed Dec. 6, 1933 Geofg E. ag/0 7 .FITTOFNE) Patented Nov. 6, 1934 1,980,114 SKEG FOR BARGES AND LIKE VESSELS George R. Taylonwoodlynne; N. J., assignorto' John H. Mathis Company, Camden, corporation of New Jersey ApplicationDecember 6, 1933, Serial No. 701,095 8 Claims. 7 (01. 114-140) The invention is designed to improve the towing qualities of barges or other like vessels, more particularly those of the rake end type, as well as to afford certain other advantages over skegs of. conventional form.

It. is known that the tendency of a barge or other towed vessel to follow thecourse of the tug is enhanced in proportion to the amount of drag adjacent the stern, and as a consequence barges employing conventional skegs have therefore.

frequently beenbuilt with very blunt sterns to thereby increase the drag adjacent thereto with a view to maintaining the barge on a proper course while it isbeing towed. A stern of this character, however, causes the barge to tow hard, with. the result that for agiven expenditure of towingpo-wer the barge cannctbe moved as rapidly as one having less stern drag so that the time required fortaking the barge from port to port is "increased, or, if better time is .to be. made; more power must be used, whereby the expense. ofoperating the barge is increasedeither because of the lengthfoftime required for aigiven Voyageor the amount of power necessary to accomplishitina given time.

l The principal object of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of askeg of noveldesign and, construction which is effective when the barge tendsto deviatefrom-its course topresent a progressively increasing drag or resistance toits turning or sluingmovement and thereby cause it to return to its true course.

A further object of the invention is the 'provision of a novel skeg through the, use of which the necessity of: abnormally increasing through hull design the drag adjacent the stern of a barge orlike vessel in order to make it properly follow the tug is obviated, which reduces the power required to tow the barge to which it is attached ;considerably below that required to tow. under like conditions a similar barge having a skeg of conventional type but whose hull is designed to afford sufficient stern drag to maintain it properly upon its course. A still further object of the invention is the provision of a skeg of the character aforesaid for usein place of the conventional skeg hitherto customarily employed, which is advantageous in that it adds to the, structural strength ofthe barge; is capable of sustaining its proportion of load should the barge ground at any time; is of such design that it. can be economically manufactured and installed either in new barges or in place of conventional skegs in existing barges; 55, which can be installed either singly orin multiple in accordance with thepreference of the barge designer or .to better, meet-the conditionsof service to which the barge is subjected; which dis.- places its own weight of water or can be made to displace more. than. its own weight, if desired, when the vesselis loaded, and which stiiferand stronger than ordinary skegs adapted for installation under generallysimilar.conditions.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of design, construction andarrangement comprehended by the invention are. hereinafter more particularlypointed out or will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following. description of. a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in .the accompanying drawing, I in 70, which Fig, 1.is a fragmentary: side elevationof the stern of .a. barge .of the rake-end type equipped with one of. my improved. skegs; Fig.v 2 isa fragmentary stern view thereof, and 'Fig. '3 is a horizontal section of. the 'skeg substantially on the staggered. line:3-J3 inFig; 1.. Like characters of reference are employed to designate the same parts in the several. figures.

More particularly and asshown, my improved skeg in its preferred embodiment. comprises a main plate 1 of. steel or other suitable metal of generally triangular form, the longest edge 2 of the plate beingshaped to snugly conform to the curvature of the bottom b of the barge B as it rises toward the transom t while. the other edges 3,. 4 preferably respectively extend in parallelism with and prolongation of the keel or major portion. of the bottom of thebarge. and substantially vertically."

' The main plate forms the backbone of the skeg and. is provided on each side with, one or moreihollow. fins longitudinally spaced along the plate when'imore than. one is employed. Under mosttconditions three such fins may de sirablybentilized as shown-in the drawing, in 5 whichthe portlfins, shown; in Fig. 1, are designated as. F, 'F'J, F ;:and the corresponding starboardflnssasf-l lgiF "Each .fin: is preferably: composed of a pair of generally V -shaped plates 6, ,7 disposed inoppogsiteangulargrelation. to the main plate ,1 andextending from its, lower edge 3 ,upwardlyto the hull of the barge, each plate having longitudinal' edges 8,; 9 respectively adapted to lie adjacent the corresponding edge of the other plate and adjacent the main plate 1 when the parts are assembled. In the construction shown, the angle-included between these edges is a. little greaterin the case; of the plate 6 than in .that of the'plate '1, but as the latter is somewhat longer than the former, since both plates are carried up far enough to engage the bottom of the barge to which they are ultimately tightly welded, the respective areas of the two plates do not difier greatly under these conditions. However, it may sometimes be preferred to make the anglebetween the edges 8, 9 of the plates the same for.both, or evento'make theangle less in the forward plate than in the stern one,

the particular relationship between"the"' said angles being largely a matter of choice with the designer. The upper ends ofboth plates are of course so shaped that they-"w'ill seat snugly wasted in merely returning the barge thereto after against the bottom of the-barge,.while at their lower extremities the plates 'are preferably cut off transversely in a plane coincident Withthe bottom of the main plate 1 and thus shortdof the point at which the edges *8, 9-would inter-- sect if prolonged, and the ends of the'plate are ultimately welded to a small generally rectangular keeper plate 10 which 'seatsin a suitable notch 11. cut. in the bottom edge of the main plate and welded or otherwise secured in position therein, thus closing. the lower end .of the fin.

: The edges 9, .9 are also during assemblywelded to the main plate and the edges 8 welded together" so as to form a fully watertight structure which in horizontal section at any ,point between the lower edge of themain plate and the lower point at which .the fin contacts the barge bottom ap-- proximates an isosceles triangle.

. Preferably indirect transverse alignmentwith eachsuchfin, a corresponding fin is provided.- on thexother'side of the main plate asibest shown in.Fig.,3; thus,.thefins.in the finished skeg are arrangedsymmetrically in opposedrelationon opposite .sides.,of .the 1.main' plate, the longest fin being adjacent the stern end of the latter and the shortestfin, if a plurality of them are employed, being adjacent its bow end.

Each corresponding pairof. fins may be therefore considered as approximating an inverted hollow truncated pyramid tapering downwardly from the barge bottomto. the lower edgeof the skeg and intersectedlongitudinally and centrally by the main'plate 1; while under usual condi-. tions three fins may desirably be provided on each side, anysuitable number or even, in'some cases, but asingle fin on each side of the main plate may be utilized.

3 Under actual conditions of operation'ithas been found that a barge provided with one or more of myimproved skegs tows relatively easily and tends to very accurately follow the course of the tug,'and I attribute this to the fact that when. the barge tends to slue or otherwise, de-

partfrom its .proper course, a-progressively-in creasing pressure is rapidly exerted. by the water on the plates 6 constitutingjtheforward plates of the fins on that side of the skeg toward which the stern of the .barge tends to move and a generally corresponding. suction or 'Jretarding force on the adjacent plates '7 with the result that the stern is swung: back toward proper'position,

- that is, one in which the skeg is in% substantial alignment with the course of the tug- When in this position 'equalpressure's are of course exerted on both sides of the skeg and'on the fins and the barge therefore tows most easily when in that position and consequently tends to remain therein rather than to depart therefrom. It is, of course, well; understood that a bargeflprovided with a conventional skeg tends to follow the course of the tug better than one having no fskeg at all but in the case of a conventional skeg 'but very power exerted by the towing vessel is therefore efiectively utilized in pulling the barge ahead along the-proper course and not in large part each material departure therefrom.

It, will be apparent'from the foregoing that my improved skeg is relatively inexpensive to construct and'may bereadily applied to new barges when they are being built or to existing barges and like vessels in place of the present conventional skegs with which they arenow equipped and, further, that the skeg as a'whole presentsastiff unitary structure capable of sustaining a fair proportion of the total weight should-the barge become stranded or go aground Under certain; conditions, moreover, a single piece 'of viding two separate plates and welding them together along their edges 8, while, if preferred,-

any or all of the edges of the fins, irrespective of their specific construction, could be flanged out and riveted to the main plate, bottom ofthe 'metal may be bent to form each fin instead of probarge and/or other parts withwhich they 'are in engagement and the seams caulkedin accordance with the practice usual in riveted ship construction, though generally it will :be found more convenient and cheaper toflweld the various parts together. 1 i

' It will of course be appreciated: that the barge may be'providedwithbut one of my improved skegs disposed on its center line as shown inthe drawing or with a plurality of such skegs'spaced at suitable distances apart, as for example,-a'

pair of "skegsdisposed one under each quarter; or three skegs disposed one'on the center line and one under each quarter in accordance with customary practice.

While I have herein described one format my invention with considerable particularity, I thereby do not desire or intend to-specifically limit or confine myself thereto as various changes and modifications may be made in the form and arrangement of the elements employed, in their method-of assembly andin other particulars without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having. thus described my invention, I claim and desireto protect by Letters Patent of. the

UnitedSta-tes: A

1. ma barge: or like vessel, a skeg. comprising i a main plate provided on each of its sides with a fin having outer faces oppositelyangularly disposed to the plateiand toeach other- 1..

2. In a barge or like vessel, a skeg comprising a mainplate providedon each of its sides with a fin having outer faces oppositely angularly disposed to the plate and toeach other, the upper end of each fin engaging the bottom of thebarge and the lower end terminating adjacent the of the plate.

3. In a barge or like vessel, a skeg comprising. a main plate extending generally fore and aft and having on each of its sides a-hollow fin having. outer faces 'di'sposed in angular'relation 'to each otheneach'finextending from thebottom of the bottom:

barge to a point adjacent the bottom of the plate and forming watertight joints with said bottom and said plate, and means for preventing the entrance of water to the lower end of each fin.

4. In a barge or like vessel, a skeg comprising a main plate extending generally fore and aft and having on each of its sides a hollow fin having outer faces disposed in angular relation to each other, each fin extending from the bottom of the barge to a point adjacent the bottom of the plate and forming watertight joints with said bottom and said plate, and means for preventing the entrance of water to the lower end of each fin, the fins on the opposite sides of the plate being arranged in transversely aligned relation.

5. In a barge or like vessel, a skeg comprising a main plate extending generally fore and aft and having on each of its sides a hollow fin having outer faces disposed in angular relation to each other and to the plate, each fin extending from the bottom of the barge to a point adjacent the bottom of the skeg and having its edges welded to said bottom and to said plate to form watertight joints therewith, and means for preventing entrance of water to the interior of the fin at its lower end.

6. In a barge or like vessel, a skeg comprising a main plate extending downwardly from the bottom of the barge to a point substantially in the plane of its keel and having on each side a fin in transversely aligned relation with the corresponding fin on the other side, each fin comprising a pair of plates set in angular relation to each other and to the main plate extending from the bottom of the barge to a point adjacent the bottom of the main plate and having their meeting edges welded together, their opposite edges welded to the plate and their upper edges welded to the bottom of the barge, and means at the lower ends of the fin plates for preventing the entrance of water to the interior of the fins, each fin being widest transversely adjacent the bottom of the barge and narrowest adjacent the lower edge of the skeg.

'7. In a barge or like vessel, a skeg comprising a main plate extending downwardly from the bottom of the barge and having on each side a generally vertically extending hollow fin enclosing with the plate a chamber of progressively increasing area in horizontal cross section extending from a point adjacent the bottom of the main plate to the plane of intersection of the main plate with the bottom of the barge.

8. In a barge or like vessel, a skeg comprising a main plate provided on each of its sides with an immovable, generally vertically extending fin having outer faces oppositely angularly disposed to the plate and to each other, each plate progressively narrowing from adjacent the bottom of the vessel to a point adjacent the bottom of the plate.

GEORGE R. TAYLOR. 

